


Fire and Rescue

by Tsume_Yuki



Category: Naruto, One Piece
Genre: Dimension Travel, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, In Which Naruto Accidentally Kidnaps Ace, Portgas D. Ace Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8165167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsume_Yuki/pseuds/Tsume_Yuki
Summary: Naruto thought she was getting pretty damn good at this Fūinjutsu stuff. She didn't mean to kidnap another world's representation of Fire. Honest.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> _She's got a wild heart,  
>  Born to run, born to come and just save my soul,   
> I never thought it was worth saving,_
> 
> -Busted, _On What You're On_

 

 

 

This, didn't exactly go as planned.

 

 

 

Trying to ignore the snickering in her head is difficult Naruto begrudgingly realises, but she can't exactly tell Kurama to take a hike when he woke up mere days ago.

Though she'd greatly appreciate it if he didn't laugh at her various failures.

Like right now.

 

 

 

Sitting outside the operating room where both Tsunade and Sakura are swearing up a storm, Naruto runs a stressed hand through her blonde hair, mind spinning.

Okay, so she probably shouldn't have steamrolled ahead with Fūinjutsu just because she's picking it up quicker than normal, and maybe she should have waited for Tsunade or Kakashi-sensei's supervision.

But hey, her mistake has potentially saved a guy's life, so really, who can be upset over that right now?

Some brute healing thanks to the Old Man'a gift means Sakura and Baa-chan can heal up the more delicate stuff without him dying in them.

Naruto politely ignores the fact she had to regrow a good portion of the dude's internal organs. Because ew, who would want to burn those up? That's nasty and mean and stuff that should only ever happen in war.

They're not at war, Naruto has ensured that and if needs be, she'll single-handedly enforce it too.

There has been too much war and death, that she knows for sure.

Scowling, the blonde runs her hands through her hair, waiting for Kakashi-sensei's assessment.

"Well here's you're problem, you were trying to summon up the Two-Tails early, right?"

Naruto nods, pleased to see her intentions are clear upon the paper, which means she hasn't royally screwed everything over. Shukaku has already been reunited with Gaara, and seems as happy as, well, a Sand Spirit in the desert.

Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten high off that one success.

"But you didn't focus it to this world, like a summoning contract is localised to set coordinates for there home dimension," Kakashi continues upon seeing she is following his train of thought, "so, you basically went fishing through dimensions for a being that embodies that world's 'fire'."

There is a pregnant pause, occupied only by a muffled cheer as Sakura manages to save the life of the young man Naruto has accidentally summoned up.

Well, at least he's not gonna die; here's hoping that wound had occurred before she tore him from his home world and thus, isn't we fault.

"Congratulations Naruto, you've kidnapped a different world's representation of fire."

Aw crap.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 1

 

 

"How's he doing today?"

Sitting by the bedside of her accidental, I-really-didn't-mean-to, kidnap victim, Naruto offers Sakura her best sheepish grin.

It has been three weeks since Naruto pulled this guy seemingly out of thin air, saving his life in the process. And yes, Naruto is one hundred percent certain she saved his life, Baa-chan and Sakura-chan confirmed it for her. Though really, even someone with her 'brains' can figure out a guy's gonna kick the bucket when he's missing half his chest.

So yeah, bonus points for Naruto right there, saved a guy's life.

Lose several points for not being able to put him back where she got him from though.

Apparently she's screwed up big time with that seal; Kakashi-sensei doesn't even have a clue where to begin fixing it. So, erm, yeah. That's a bit of a bummer.

But really, it's not like Naruto has much to be doing right now; there's no wars to fight, no evil masterminds to defeat and no princesses to save. She's got the time and motivation to figure this thing out, she'll get her guy back where he came from, no sweat.

Or well, maybe a little sweat; apparently this guy's body temperature runs hotter than normal, it's why his room window is always open.

Which you know, means Naruto can leap in easypeasy when it's visiting time, so that's cool.

"We just fixed up the edging of his tattoos, after restoring the one on his back, given the scar tissue," Sakura admits, thankfully not facing Naruto as the blonde wilts.

Yeah, as the responsible one on Team Seven -given that she, Kakashi-sensei and the Teme are walking disasters Sakura didn't get much of a choice on her role-, the pink haired medic no doubt feels the need to make up for Naruto's mistakes. Which includes a free tattoo touch up; something to do with the skin cells and the ink stains and Naruto really wasn't listening in all honesty.

Those tattoos though, they sure are something.

One down his arm, wrote in letters, not the kanji she is so used to. Hell, Naruto wouldn't even be able to read it without that training trip Jiraiya took her on. Because the Academy had failed her on that front, and the Toad Sage had gotten nearly a quarter of his reports in the alphabet of 'letters'. Naruto hated learning, but she's thankful now. Though why the 'S' is crossed out, she sure as hell doesn't know.

The massive one on his back, currently out of sight, is cool too. Though she sure as hell wouldn't be able to sit still long enough to get that whopper of a drawing done. Props to the guy for that, he's got far more patience than she will ever be capable of.

"And then things on his face?" Naruto asks, leaning forwards and fighting down the urge to poke at the cluster of dots that decorate mystery guy's cheeks. He's quite tanned, like he spends a fair amount of time outside and his hands are calloused. Sakura has tentatively labels him a sailor of some kind.

Only, only his chakra system is too advanced for a civilian. Maybe fresh Chunin level, she's explained, shrewed green eyes fluttering all over their unconscious guest's form.

So, not defenceless; it at least explains why he took what is clearly a fatal battle wound; he's trained to fight. Thus, there's always an ANBU lurking around the hospital now. Well, one more than the normal lot anyway.

"They're freckles, Baka-Naru," Sakura snaps warmly, rolling her eyes with an amused little smile on her face, "they're genetic features and occurs naturally."

Then under her breath so low Naruto barely catches it, "unlike your whisker marks."

The Uzumaki ignores her, instead so much more focuses on the slight fluctuation in mystery guy's chakra. He's close to waking up!

Squirming in her seat, Naruto runs a hand across her face before trying to seat herself in the most respectable position. She probably failed, horribly if Sakura's snort is any indication as the pink haired medic pops out to go check on her other patients.

Oh well, Naruto's never cared much for first impressions anyway. And wow, this is gonna be a bad one; she does after all, have to explain to a guy how she saved his life by kidnapping him from his home world and oh yeah, the tincy tiny problem of not yet knowing how to get him back.

Oops.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He wakes up.

Fire Fist Ace, who has taken a burning blow right through his chest, wakes up.

There's no pain, he registers belatedly, eyes slowly opening to stare up at the ceiling before him. It's not the wooden patchwork of a ship that he'd been expecting, nor is it anything like the Marines' cells. Not unless they had an exceptional medical cell and even then, why would they bother to put him in it? They'd sentenced him to death simply for his bloodline, for something he had no control over.

So the question persists, where is he?

He really doesn't recognise this place, it's foreign to him, new and thus dangerous. But... He's weak. His body feels no pain, but lethargy is certainly present. It weighs heavy on his limbs, gives him no real incentive to get up and off of the comfortable mattress he lays upon. Only-

Luffy's wide, horrified eyes flash through his mind.

No, he needs to get up.

With gritted teeth and shaking limbs, Ace pushes himself up into a sitting position, scowl steadily becoming more and more thunderous. He hasn't been this weak waking up from injury since he was a very young child, back before his strength really kicked in. Already his breathing is laboured; unacceptable.

It is only in that moment that he registers another presence in the room, his eyes flashing over to the one in question even as he flexes his hands. He's not in the best of conditions, but there's no Seastone embracing wrists. If needs must, he can summon up his fire, can defend himself.

When he takes a look at the only other person in the room, he correctly concluded that having access to his fire is probably a very good thing indeed.

It's not that she looks incredibly threatening; it's subtle hints. The hard coils of lithe muscles hidden beneath tanned skin that make up the arms, the pouch attached to her thigh that holds some kind of metal blades; she's a fighter. Given her distinctive lack of scars, she knows what she doing too.

The bright, relieved smile throws him off a bit though.

"Ah! Thank Sage, you're awake!" Her voice is rougher than he'd have expected of her almost delicate features, but not to the point of jarring him. After three years on the Grand Line, Ace's bar for the unexpectedly uncomfortable is set a fair bit higher than that.

No, it's the sheepish grin that he gets in return, the hand rubbing lightly at the back of her head and tousling long blonde hair that sends him reeling. It's the kind of expressive emotion he'd have expected from Luffy.

"Er, okay?" Ace dubiously questions, one eyebrow rising with a slight smile as the girl relaxes into her default standing position, clear blue eyes filtering over his entire form as if looking for a problem. She's not a doctor, is she? It doesn't seem like it, but Ace has seen some weird shit after all.

He needs to find out where he is and more importantly, what happened at Marineford after he took that death-blow. Or, what was suppose to be a death blow.

He's more than a little confused over that.

"Where am I?" Ace asks and the girl's face falters, a quick flash of expression but enough for him to catch.

"Konoha Grand Hospital," says the blonde, just as the door to his right opens and admits a far more professional looking woman. Even if her hair is blush-pink.

She blinks, green eyes taking him in for a snapshot of a second before she turns on her fellow woman.

"Naruto! You were suppose to tell me when he woke up! And you sure as hell aren't suppose to be stressing him until I've checked him over!"

'Naruto' instinctively flinches at the nurse's -?- command, backing up with flailing arms before she caves to the woman's stare and scuttles out the open window.

Hundreds of questions bubble in the back of his throat -what happened? How long has he been out? Where the hell is 'Konoha'?- but by the pink haired woman's look, he won't be getting answers until he's given his own.

"My name's Haruno Sakura, and I've been the medic healing you since Naruto brought you in, after she saved your life with that patchwork healing of hers."

Wait, what?

 

The news is, well, it's good and bad.

On one hand, he's healed, almost good as new with a big fat scar on his chest. Okay, it cost him three weeks of unconscious.

That means no matter what happened at the rest of the battle, it's past Ace's ability to help anymore, the fight's no doubt been finished and done with for a while. Whatever the outcome, he can't do anything to change it.

God, he hopes Luffy made it out okay.

So, all healed up and ready to get back to training after his nurse/doctor/medic Haruno Sakura has given him the a-okay. Strange how someone so many people wanted dead kept getting all these lucky breaks.

He almost bit the bullet again, only to be saved by the most ridiculous of reasons. A pistol-proof bastard indeed.

The worst news though, is just how he's managed to escape death.

A new fucking world.

Summoning someone from another world by accident; it sounds ridiculous, even more so than the Devil Fruits he's so familiar with. And then blonde- 'Naruto' has been by every day, according to Haruno Sakura; the guilt's pretty obvious by that action alone.

He's pretty pissed, Ace isn't gonna lie to himself. But it's illogical to be so; he'd be dead without her mistaken summoning, and she's apparently working constantly to find a way back for him. He sure can get upset over a mistake, but he can't take it out on her.

Maybe guilt her into a free dinner, but no more.

And- and she's given him a chance to abolish his one regret. He might actually get to see Luffy become Pirate King after all.

Did he have a right to live? Ace still isn't completely sure of the answer, but these people who don't know him have saved his life, so at least he has a chance of figuring it out in the future. Maybe.

Damn it, it's all way too confusing and he's still weak as a baby right now. Even lifting and holding his arms up for a bit is difficult. He's lost some muscle too, that'll need fixing. He needs to flex his flames too, because while the power still lingers under his skin, it doesn't feel quite the same anymore.

And his hat is missing.

Hell, what a mess he's ended up in this time.

 

 


	3. Chapter 2

 

 

Well that didn't go as she'd planned.

Naruto had rather been hoping to explain it all to formerly-crispy-organ-guy, had hoped to weasel forgiveness from him so that she'd be able to stop worrying over it.

Only, Sakura-chan has kicked her out the room before she could manage it. Oh sure her teammate hadn't physically removed her from the hospital, but that glare is as effective as any kind of dropkick the pinkette could deliver.

Sighing, the blonde runs a hand through her hair, noting the mass of it now falls to her hips when unbound. She's still got a way to go before she has her mother's length to it but in all honesty, she's not entirely sure she wants it that long. That was we mother's style, and while she had the same short spikes as her father as a child, she actually feels like a girl with it at this length. The bangs frame her face, the stretch of hair spilling over her shoulders; it's nice.

Unlike when she was younger, when she was determined to take on the world and adamant she was a 'tomboy' and not into anything like perfume and nail polish, Naruto doesn't mind feeling like a girl now. Enjoys it actually. She's not scared to acknowledge her true gender.

Perhaps as a brat, the fact the four past Hokages were all male gave her reason to deny her femininity as much as possible.

But now with Tsunade still cracking the whip until Kakashi-sensei takes over; Naruto doesn't have a problem wearing dresses on her days off, or going shopping with Hinata to look at heeled shoes. She's not stupid enough to go with Ino or Sakura though; with the two of them, shop 'till you drop has a whole new meaning.

With a pout, Naruto brushes down one of the dresses acquired from her one and only shopping trip with the terrifying duo, admiring the shade of orange that sat so nicely against her tanned skin. Ino at least has a good eye for colour. Not that the trait is worth braving another shopping expedition with her.

Not at all.

Glancing across the gap between buildings, Naruto eyes the open window cautiously. Sakura-chan is no doubt all finished with melty-chest guy, her chakra is already walking away down the corridor to her other patients.

To prove her point, her accidental-kidnapee slowly makes his way across the room, stretching out his limbs as he goes. It's the same kind of behaviour Kakashi-sensei used to go through after a bout of Sharingan induced chakra exhaustion. Warming up the muscles, assessing personal strength; her artificial limb throbs at the thought.

Tsunade's illusion is good, but Naruto's getting tired of hiding the 'wound'. She's not ashamed of the fake limb, of the blow she suffered bringing Sasuke to his senses. It doesn't hurt anymore, but it doesn't feel quite like it did before either. And perhaps she should stop hiding that fact.

She already wraps the limb up with white bandages, there's really no need for Tsunade's illusion; Naruto might appreciate being feminine now, but that doesn't mean she's massively vain about it.

A slight flicker of power, chakra but not -natural energy?- flares to life in the hospital and Naruto snaps to attention.

Tattoo dude is stood near the window, one hand on fire.

No wait, not quite on fire. More like transforming into fire.

There's skin and form at the wrist, but after that- it's like his palm and fingers have dissolved into dancing flames.

That's pretty cool!

Quickly judging the distance, Naruto takes a bracing step back before jumping the width of the street, landing on the windowsill and startling the man something fierce. To the point she has to duck a jet of hot flames.

Yeah, oops.

No startling the stranger, got it.

Hands up in the tradition position of unarmed surrender -crap, is that the same thing where he's from?- Naruto offers her best sheepishly charming grin, the one that works even on Baa-chan.

"Ehehehe, sorry?" She offers a gentle shrug, smiling up at the guy, because wow he's tall. Taller than Sasuke-teme, taller than Kakashi-sensei, even slightly taller than Gai back when he could stand unassisted. Hell, the only person that Naruto can think of that tops this dude on the height scale is Bee. And Jiraiya, but obviously he's not around to compare against anymore.

Kurama damn it, the top of her head barely matches this guy's shoulders. His broad, shirtless shoulders.

"I never said thank you," flame-dude mutters, making an aborted motion with his hand, as if reaching for his face or something that usually rests on his head, "I mean yeah I'm pretty pissed I'm here, but you did save my life. So, thanks."

And Naruto is blindsided by an incredibly charming smile. It's not the kind she really gets to see, stuck with Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei for male teammates, and none of her yearmates can manage something quite this ernest. Though those gene-dot-things are still funny looking.

"Sweet, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, ninja and I can't burst into awesome flames, 'ttebayo."

Freckly-face has that half dubious, half amused face on again, staring down at her with a begrudging smile as he eyes her offered hand.

"Portgas D. Ace."

Well that's a strange name, Ace like the playing cards? Well, Naruto's always been pretty damn good with the gambling stuff, so here's hoping that trend continues.

Ace's hand is significantly larger than hers, callous too, unlike her own Jinchuriki-healed ones. His skin's warm to the touch, paler than her own. But his shake is strong and sure. Brave.

"Nice to meet you, Ace." Squeezing his hand once before she lets go, Naruto rocks back on her heels and tries as hard as she can to not flat out beam at this guy. By her standards, this is going pretty well, hopefully they'll be full out friends soon. After all, Gaara was trying to kill her once, and now he's practical her brother. Looking back on a lot of the friendships she's built, in comparison this seems to be off to a flying start.

"I've got clones working 'round the clock to figure out what went wrong so we can get you back," she explains, even as Ace's face does something funny at the words. Is he surprised how much effort she's putting into rectifying her mistakes or something?

"Eh, by the way, since it's my fuck up that got you here, I'll cover you for food and somewhere to sleep," Naruto offers and unknowingly seals the fate of her wallet for the duration of Ace's stay.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Uzumaki Naruto leaves with the promise to collect him in morning upon his discharge from the hospital. She's... Sincere.

Ever since what happened with Blackbeard, Ace has gotten a lot better at reading the truth behind a man's word, reading the emotions. He has to, otherwise it's possible someone's going to stab him and his in the back once again. He does not want those who dare to get close to him -who don't hold his blood against him, who are so kind as so loving and he's so damn lucky- to be hurt because he wasn't focused. Not again.

No, he knows how to look for the promise behind words, and Uzumaki Naruto's is good and honest and true.

He still doesn't know what the hell to make of her though. Or of the whole 'clone' thing. Or this place in general.

There's nothing he can do when it comes to getting away from here; he doesn't even know where to start on catapulting himself back to his world. Back to Luffy and Pops and the rest of the Whitebeard crew.

His skin itches, blood boils but he cannot do anything. It sets him on edge, the first time he's been so free and yet truly helpless. He hasn't felt the threat of such crushing desperation since being held in the Marine cells. Not that such an event was too long ago.

Part of him feels like his execution was always suppose to happen. It hadn't mattered that he had his own bounty, hadn't matter that he was a Whitebeard pirate or that he was a Devil Fruit user. The second it came out just where he was from, just what blood was contained in his body, that was it.

It was not Fire Fist Ace, 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard pirates that was to be executed on that battle field. It was Gol D. Roger's son that they almost killed that day. Had his father been anyone else, anyone at all, he'd have been killed for being Ace.

But no, that man forever shadows his every step, no matter that he had died long before Ace was born. It was enough to proclaim him less than a person, just a walking legacy, something to be wiped out, burned away and destroyed. The odds have been against him from the start; it's only by the devil's own luck that he's managed to stay alive so far.

And it really must be the devil's luck; of all the people that Naruto could have snagged up in her accidental summoning, of all the times to activate the summoning...

Something or someone up there must want to keep watching Ace struggle through life, it's the only explanation.

Whether it's to keep him suffering as some form of black comedy to entertain them, well...

 

 

Stopping by the window a second time, Ace stretches his arms above his head once again, watching the people hustle and bustle about. Some of them, the fitter ones that move with the grace of a trained fighter, leap between the rooftops with enviable ease, as if they haven't a care in the world.

Meanwhile, Ace is still weighed down in the aftermath of surviving a would-be fatal blow. Now that he has time to review, time to accept his survival, it's clear he'd have had more than one regret to die with.

That those bastards are still out there is a key one. Blackbeard and Akainu; Ace has to kill them. They're a threat, a massive one to all that he holds dear. Bad blood or not, Ace'll be damned before he sees his nakama destroyed for mere association with him.

And may hell rain down upon anyone that threatens Luffy simply for whom his father is. There's so much wrong with the Marines, it's really no surprise at all that there are pirates roaming the seas.

Absolute Justice, what brilliant stupidity.

There's so much wrong with the world, wrong with his world. The nobles -Sabo's little sailing boat, the flames licking at the wood and squeezing in towards the mast just like how Ace's heart had began caving in on itself- are poison too.

There's so much that needs fixing, but even if Ace had the desire to, right now he's not in much of a position to do so. He actually hasn't got much of an option other than to go with the flow, find out more about this world and just where on the power scale he falls.

If he's lucky, they'll all be focused on the advanced healing powers that saved his life, with only a very few -like Uzumaki Naruto- knowing how to fight.

Somehow though, he gets the feeling a hell of a lot of them are gonna be damn strong.

With that bastard Akainu still out there, then Ace can at least make the most of his time trapped here. He's gonna train like hell, and the next time he sees that magma-laced bastard, he's gonna destroy him.

No one threatens his family.

 

 

On the plus side, Naruto has at least offered to provide him with food and shelter.

 

Heh, he wonders if she's up to the challenge.

 

 


	4. Chapter 3

 

 

 

"Alright, Naruto, let's have some long overdue girl-talk."

Standing at her apartment door, Naruto blinks in surprise, but no, it's not a mirage. Yamanaka Ino really is at her door, bottle of alcohol in one hand, bag of junk food in the other and a huge smile on her face.

"Girl-talk?" Naruto repeats dumbly, instinctively stepping back to allow her fellow blonde entry to her home.

For the past few hours she'd been preparing the guest bedroom that Sakura-chan usually crashes in when her parents get overbearing, removing the blatantly girly products and slapping a calm shade of orange on the walls, painting over the light green she'd allowed Sakura to have. Hell, the pinkette has been stopping over so much recently that she probably should have been contributing to the bills. That was, if you know, Naruto were actually paying for utilities. Which she isn't; the apartment was a gift from Tsunade, for services above and beyond expectation as a loyal ninja of Konoha. And yeah Naruto hates freebies, but she sure as hell isn't gonna complain about this one.

More money to spend on ramen after all.

It also means she's got the funds to look after her new guest, along with buying a whole lot of new stuff for his room while stuffing Sakura's shit into a storage scroll. If her fellow Team Seven ninja wants to stay over now, she'll have to either suck it up and bunk on the couch or share Naruto's bed with her. Not like it isn't big enough for two, after all.

"Yep, girl-talk," Ino insists, sashaying into the living room and dumping her spoils upon the coffee table, "because I was on Backfire Ward at the hospital today and I saw your latest catch." Cue the wiggling of perfectly maintained eyebrows.

Naruto watches them dance, quite unsure how Ino manages to get them so damn even. Her attempts aren't terrible, but Naruto only really manages to tweezer them effectively with the use of a shadow clone. Sakura-chan says that cheating, but Naruto heartily disagrees.

It takes her a moment to register Ino's words; every time Backfire Ward is mentioned she ends up getting a bit of a giggle on. Mainly for all the times Kakashi-sensei's ended up in there as a result of testing out some new jutsu or another. As the name implies, 'Backfire Ward' is the section of the hospital dedicated to new jutsu fuck-ups and their questionable aftereffects.

"You mean Ace?" Naruto asks, head cocked to a side as she drops onto the sofa and reaches for the nearest bag of candy.

And then, because it is expected of her, "yeah he's got a pretty face."

"Are you kidding? He's gorgeous! Dark, tall and he has a total aversion to wearing shirts! Oh, if I wasn't with Sai I'd be tapping that."

Naruto snorts, a mini-marshmallow flying out of her nose with the noise.

It's not that she hasn't noticed Ace is good looking, -or that he's really quite fit and that those tattoos ooze danger in a way famous shinobi just don't for Naruto anymore- it's just that she's a bit more occupied on how to get him home. Hell, if someone tore her away from Konoha, she'd she'd damn well want them focused on getting her back, not on how pretty she may be.

But hey, maybe men think differently?

She doesn't mention that last part in her response to Ino though.

Huffing, the purple wearing lady drops onto the couch beside her, sky blue nails clicking against the wooden top before she snatched up the booze and cracks open the seal.

"You can always sex him up as an apology for it."

"Ino! I'm responsible for him until I can get his ass home!" Her cheeks aren't red damn it, no matter how much Ino's laugh tries to tell her differently.

"Well then, have your wicked way with him just before he leaves, wham-bam-thank you man. You're gonna have to pop your cherry some time, Naruto."

Naruto's well aware, but the idea of casual sex really just doesn't do it for her.

Ino won't understand that though, she was the queen of casual sex until she started dating Sai two months ago. Not to say Ino was a whore or anything; she was incredibly classy with how she went about acquiring a friend-with-benefits. Or her 'squeeze', as she'd liked to call them.

Not that she has need for those skills anymore because hey, she has Sai now.

"Come on, Naruto, can you honestly tell me you haven't thought about licking those muscles?!"

Until that very moment, Naruto could indeed say such a thing. But now Ino's put thoughts in her head. This is almost as bad as when Jiraiya'd pull her into his 'brainstorming' sessions for the next book.

A sly, teasing tone, "you're picturing it, aren't you?"

"Shut up! 'Ttebayo!"

"Fine. I'll come bug you after you've spent a few steamy days with hot and muscly." Given that Naruto's guest can burst into flames on command, Ino has no idea just how right her words are.

"Instead," Ino muses, swiftly pulling out a dossier from her overnight bag, all the while wearing a smile that'd make Kurama proud, "let's say I've acquired the Chunin's ranking list of 'kunoichi I'd like to bang'. Wanna see who tops it?"

Well, Naruto's certainly not above the ego boost that comes with knowing how many men out there find her attractive.

 

 

 

Bright and early the next morning finds Naruto rocking back on her heels inside the hospital reception, watching her new friend sign a few sheets of paperwork with Sakura. True to form, Ace is still quite shirtless, and while the scar of his wound isn't so bad on his back -covered by that tattoo touch up Sakura insisted on having done- it's a real doozy of a sight on his chest. Oh yeah, if any other ninja had summoned him he'd be going up in flames. Just, not the way he could right now. Funeral flames, she forgets the fancy name, cremnah-something.

Who cares.

Point is, he'd be dead had she not been her, had she not been presented with Old Man Sage's gift. Not even Tsunade-baachan could grow a heart, the vast majority of the lungs, and a whole other slew of integral organs on the spot, just like that. Where was she going with this?

Chewing on her lip, Naruto watches as Ace offers Sakura-chan a polite bow, one hand dipping into the pocket of his carefully washed and repaired shorts while the other makes an aborted move to his head again. Okay, he has to be wearing some sort of accessory usually, maybe Naruto'll be able to find a good substitute for him? Those slip on shoes too; they look really uncomfortable, pinching toes uncomfortable, doesn't he want some good old sandals on?

"Ace! Come on, it's breakfast time!"

A man after her own heart, Ace quickly strides forwards at the promise of food, Naruto matching his gait with ease and leading him through town.

It's been a year now since the destruction of Konoha, and already the village is completely rebuilt and bustling. Sage bless Yamato and his beautiful ability to grow houses from the ground.

All around them, people pause to throw greets at her, smiles and waves and it is so painfully different than when she was a kid. She's got their attention now, got their respect and admiration. It's all she ever wanted.

"So, you seem pretty popular," Ace mused aloud, dark eyes working over all the civilians around them. Naruto's watching him, just like she's aware of the two ANBU that also do so. He's a low risk priority, coming into the village wounded and certainly with no preexisting hatred of Konoha. With Naruto as his 'guide', Baa-chan's not worried about having people to hand to restrain him, should he try attacking them. He won't; Naruto can feel his emotions after all, and while there's a lot of hate and confusion and sadness in there, he's a good person.

Which is why she has no problem answering with a delicate shrug, "eh, it's a new development."

"Right," and there's the dubious look he wears so well. How long it'll last, if it'll stay only until he gets used to his surroundings, Naruto isn't sure. But she's sure as hell looking forwards to finding out more about his world. Are there ninjas there? Chakra? Is there a God Tree in Ace's world? Some form of variation? Who knows what's out there, but Naruto wants to know. It sounds exactly like the kinda thing Ero-sensei would be interested in actually.

"Yesterday, you said there were 'clones' working on getting me back," Ace mutters, hands stuffed deep into his pockets, though he maintains eye contact rather well as they walk. Okay, so seems like wherever Ace is from they don't have shadow-clones then.

"Sakura-chan told you about chakra, right?"

"She gave me a lecture," Ace admits, lips tilting up into a little amused smile, "I think your 'chakra stuff' is equivalent to the Devil Fruits of my world."

Devil Fruits, that sounds a lot like the chakra fruit that Kaguya ate. Right, that makes a little sense then.

"Yeah, I can make clones of myself. There's about fifty variations of me on the outskirts of town trying to fix the deal that summoned you here."

"Fifty varia- Do you want rid of me that bad?" It's said teasingly, but something zings hard on Naruto's radar, the emotional radar that was hammered into her just before she joined the war, the one Kurama has spent months fine-tuning with her since its acquisition.

"Nope! You're pretty cool, but it seems you were doing something important, and if people pulled me from a big battle I'd want them to put be back lickety-split too."

Before much else can be said, the two of them arrive as Ichiraku's, Naruto bustling through the door to the sweet sweet scent of the holy grail.

"Ah! Naruto! My favourite customer!" Old man Teuchi greets, warm smile on his weathered face and this is it, this is what coming home feels like. With all the casual grace of a truly devoted customer, Naruto drops onto her favourite bar stool, the cushion orange in her honour, and she taps at her neighbouring seat in a clear indication to Ace.

As her companion takes his seat, a flick of his fingers has the cooker Teuchi is trying to light up burning away in an instant and hell that's a great power. Think of all the campfires she's struggled to start in the past, and this guy could just snap his fingers and hey, job done.

"Managed to snare a man to pay your fare today, Naruto-chan?"

"Nah," rubbing sheepishly at the back of her neck and, oh boy she's going to be explaining this to a fair few people from now on isn't she, Naruto explains, "I screwed Ace here over a bit, so I'm treating him actually."

"What'll you start with then, Naruto-chan?"

Bouncing on her seat, the blonde doesn't even need to glance over the menu, instead handing it over to Ace as she reels off just what she's going to be packing away in her stomach today. And this is only the starter course.

"Three Misos, three beef, one shrimp, two salt and hell, why not, one tomato too."

The oh so familiar scribbling of a pen against paper and then Teuchi's eyes are on Ace, startling the dot-faced male into looking between them.

"Wait, all that's not for me?"

"You've just met our Naruto-chan, haven't you?" Teuchi asks dryly from around his chuckles, Naruto muffling her own laughter into the palm of her hand. It's just been so long since someone didn't know exactly how much ramen she could consume.

"That's all for her, and she'll still put away more after."

Another dubious glance in her direction, before the raven haired male smirks.

"I'll have the same then." Oooh! A challenger?! Them's be fighting words. 

Naruto glances to Ace, challenging eyebrow raised even though her opponent is too busy sniffing at the air and licking at his lips to notice. Ramen lover, or just a big eater? Not that is matter, because Naruto'll put it all away anyway.

This guy doesn't stand a chance.

 

 

Thirty minutes later, the empty bowls are piled high, the ones from their 'starter round' having been carried off to be washed already, given that Teuchi is close to running out. And still, neither of them show any signs of stopping.

Between every seventh or so mouthful, Naruto'll glance over at Ace with surprise and respect in her eyes because Kurama be damned, he's still going. And between every ninth mouthful of his own, Ace'll sneak a look too, the shock of her keeping pace having dulled to a genuine curiosity and steely determination to out eat her.

Well bring it on.

 

Their forty-second bowl is placed before them, beef for Ace, miso for Naruto, and the blonde is already ploughing through her helping when there's a slight splash.

Sucking in the last of the noodles, she turns to the source and proceeds to choke on her favourite food.

Ace is face down in his near empty ramen bowl.

 

"Crap! I've killed him!"

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

 

"If it wasn't Teuchi cooking, I'd have thought he was poisoned!"

Huh, he's not in the ramen bar anymore.

Hand clenching in the absence of the chopsticks he'd been holding, Ace cocks his head back towards the two women who've become a common sight during his few days awake within this universe.

Once again Haruno Sakura is dressed as a professional medic, pastel pink hair scraped back into a spiky looking ponytail as she interacts with Naruto.

Naruto, she's pretty cool. Luffy'd like her, that's for sure. Maybe he can talk her into coming back with him for a visit. If the three of them sat down for a meal somewhere, they'd probably clean the whole place out before any of them were fully satisfied.

"You!"

Swallowing in surprise at the rage on Sakura's face, Ace blinks with wide eyes even as he throws the covers off of his body to slide out of bed.

"Why didn't you tell us you had narcolepsy?!"

Narco-whatey?

"You fell asleep at Ichiraku's! Naruto though you'd died from stuffing your face!"

"Nah, I wouldn't die from that," Ace insists, waving his hand about as if to dismiss the very idea. Death by food? While it sounds like a pleasant way to go, Luffy'd never forgive him if that was how Ace bit the bullet.

"The sleep thing just happens," Ace grumbles, shrugging his shoulders and sliding up onto his feet. Bare skin meets tiles and he frowns, looking around for the nasty shoes from his execution.

God he hopes Naruto's gonna take him shopping sometime soon, those things are awful. He'll need a job of some kind here, he really can't keep living off Naruto's generosity for the duration of his stay.

Well, he could, but his pride will sting far too much if he tries that. He's a flexible guy, maybe he can learn some stuff and become a ninja; it's skills that'll be good when he gets back too.

Something is thrown his way and Ace catches the objects before quickly shoving the shoes onto his feet.

It's not the slip-ons he was expecting, instead a pair of the same open toe sort-of boots everyone here seems to wear is what he can now be seen sporting. Black in colour and they're actually really comfortable, he can see why they all wear them.

Bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, Ace cocks one ankle back and forth. Supportive too, these are actually better than his old boots.

He's just not a big fan of the open toes, Ace thinks as the digits in question wiggle about in the air.

"It just happens," Sakura repeats in a dark growl and oh boy, that sounds dangerous.

Time to go.

"Sure does!"

Naruto sees what he's about to do a second before he does it.

Ace leaps out the window and Naruto's right there beside him, blonde hair whipping out behind her as they fall to the street below. Ace lands in a crouch, rolling forwards with his insides substituted for flames to lessen the mass impact. Naruto just lands, snatching up his hand and taking off in a run.

The bellow of their names as they flee echoes from the hospital window all the way down the street and wow Sakura has a set of lungs on her.

In a reminisce of all his dine-n-dashes, Ace shoots a look over his shoulder and grins wildly, "sorry, gotta go!"

Naruto laughs and for a moment, Ace forgets where he is.

Suddenly the blonde hair is shorter, suddenly it's Luffy's laughter that bounces along the street and it's Sabo that's running beside him.

He stumbles, one foot missing the correct timing.

But then a tanned hand is gripping tight at his, supporting and straightening his posture and his brothers are gone, Naruto pulling him along once again.

And maybe it's not healthy, but he keeps running, keeps letting the memories overlap with the present, and for one moment he forgets for a little while.

 

 

Of course it can't last as long as he would like -forever- and they come to a stop on a retail street.

Naruto slips her hand out of his, throwing her arms up and stretching out her back.

Ace isn't blind; Naruto's hot. But then again, Sakura's hot, that other blonde chick that walked past his room in the hospital is hot, the leader of this damn village is hot. Admittedly Ace only got a quick glimpse of her as she went about barking orders throughout the hospital.

Point being though, Ace hasn't seen a single ugly girl since he woke up.

There's so much eye-candy here it's fantastic.

On the downside, the men are just as good looking. Sure Ace doesn't swing that way, but he can still weigh up the competition. And there is a whole lot of competition here.

He's the only one with freckles that he's seen so far though, so he's the only one with the adorable charm they grant. Coupled with his superior height -is he in midget country or something? Barely anyone's pushing six foot around here- he's got a fair amount going for him.

"Right, clothes," Naruto insists, patting at his arm as she eyes one of the nearby shops, "and maybe we can have a spar later on, see how good you are?"

That has Ace's lips lifting up at the corners, because that sounds like a plan. It sounds like exactly the kind of opening he needs to start learning some of these ninja tricks.

It'll probably amuse Luffy when he gets back home, so obviously Ace's gonna learn as many of them as he can. Heh, he doubts any other pirate can say they've trained with ninja.

"Sounds good. So, clothes," Ace muses, watching as Naruto cocks a hand on her hip and grins.

"Yep. We'll probably be able to find something similar to what you've got on now."

And well, Ace has never really had much love for shopping. But pants from another dimension sounds pretty cool.

 

 

"Proudest accomplishment before turning 13?"

"There's a bridge named after me in Wave!"

Adjusting his grip on the many shopping bags he's acquired during their spree, Ace keeps pace with the bubbly blonde easily. He's not going to worry about how Luffy's doing -he's fine, nothing will kill that kid before he realises his dream and he's got years until then- so really all he can do here is build a good rep with the people and start training. Because when he gets back, -and he will get back- he's got a list of people to hunt down. Knowing the amount of trouble Luffy can get into unattended, there's probably gonna be a hell of a lot more of the bastards to take care of when he gets back.

"Favourite colour?"

Which is why he's playing a loose version of 20 questions with Uzumaki Naruto.

So far he's learnt her favourite food -ramen, unsurprisingly- her wackiest experience -a toss up between time travel, dimension travel, and punching a literal goddess in the face. Yeah, Ace was surprised too- and her favourite animals. He can now say he knows a girl who loves toads. Toads and foxes.

Oh, and that she's got a bridge named after her. So, yeah.

His answer to her latest question isn't difficult or personal, thankfully.

"Orange."

Orange like his missing hat.

Naruto skids to a stop, a beaming smile on her face and Ace belatedly recalls every stitch of clothing he's seen her in so far. Only one specific colour stands out.

"Sakura-chan told me nobody likes orange! Ha, she can go suck it!"

Chuckling, Ace follows Naruto into one of the large buildings -apartment buildings, cool idea for people who dislike the sea- though he takes the time to pause and let a granny pass in front of him. Even if she wasn't covered in battle scars that detail her time as a warrior he would have allowed her to cross paths first, that she is a patchwork of war tales just has him straightening his posture slightly as well.

"Goal for the future?" Ace calls down the corridor to Naruto, who waits at the base of the stairs for him to catch up.

A pensive look crosses her face, and after a second, she answers.

"To become Hokage."

"That's the ninja leader, right?"

She nods, taking the stairs two at a time and cheerfully greeting whom Ace can only assume is her neighbour.

Privately, he thinks that her conviction doesn't sound half as sure as Luffy's declarations of his future kingship. Ace doesn't say anything though, just trailing after the blonde as she powers to her front door and instead continues their game.

"Favourite number?"

 

 

He has his own room. It's certainly no captain's cabin, but the personal space it offers -along with its warm charm- is enough to put him at ease.

Naruto's popped out with the promise of food upon her return, leaving him with some much desired alone time.

His bags have all been dumped in the corner of the room and he'll have them all unpacked and stored before she gets back, it'd be rude not to do so. It's just...

Ace slowly shuffles over to the window, pausing before it to stare out and the view below.

He's travelled all of the seas, even though the vast majority of his time has been spent upon the Grand Line.

But he has never known a village like this.

Untouched by the taint of the Marines; while this country does have its royalty, it is not the supreme power. The blue blood family are more of a curtesy to look after for the ninja, someone to handle the civilian side than to command the strongest powers in the land.

In this place, everything goes upon merit.

Sakura has already told him in the hospital how her own parents were civilians, but because of her pure grit and talent, for all her hard work, she was now the most revered medic in the village. Just after her mentor of course.

And Naruto, Naruto had apparently been a no name orphan, clawing her way to the top. And then when her heritage came out...

It hadn't overshadowed her own achievements.

She has made a name for herself, her reputation came first and her blood second.

Sabo would have loved this place.

Ace gets the feeling that he's just a little bit jealous too.

 


End file.
